sunbleached coffey.

You’re probably wondering about that weird title, but all will soon make sense to you.

Some of you may recognize the name Kent-Coffey, especially if you know your mid-century furniture designers. I always thought Kent-Coffey pieces were expensive, high end, sleek, designer items. On the contrary, a little bit of research has revealed that Kent-Coffey furniture was intended for the average consumer. Much like Readers Digest books, it was mass produced and was priced affordably.

Not only that, but in addition to the sleeker, more modern designs, Kent-Coffey also made some French Provincial stuff.

Like this dresser from the Charmant line.

I picked this one up via Craigslist. I had seen a photo of a similar piece online that had been refinished with white washed drawers and a pale grey painted body and I wanted to try the same look myself. I wish I could remember where I saw it so that I could give proper credit, but I’ve searched and searched and can’t find it. Suffice to say, this is a copied idea not one that I came up with on my own.

My first step was to strip all of the drawer fronts. Once I had the finish removed I could see how beautiful the grain was. After a good cleaning and sanding, instead of white washing them I chose to stain them with Varathane’s wood stain in Sunbleached, followed by a coat of Minwax Wipe on Poly.

I painted the body of the dresser in Fusion’s Bedford.

Bedford might just be my favorite of all the Fusion shades of grey (although I do also love Putty, which is just a little more pale).

I decided to keep the original hardware since it works so well with the whole French provincial look, but the drawer pulls really popped too much in their original brass color. So I ‘white washed’ them using a Little Billy Goat Goat Stick in Cream.

I like the way Debbie worded that….it’s not really my cup of tea either…not sure why though? I love my catalog dresser that you painted. Might be just that I like the painted “look”? Anyway, like Debbie said, lots of other people just love it and thats what makes the world go round! It is a stunning piece and I’m sure it’s perfect for someone!

Well, I have to say this particular dresser would not really fit into my own decor either. But I still enjoy working on these sort of pieces for a change of pace. I hate to say it, but I think our generation remembers these mid-century pieces from the first time around and to us they really look like something our parent’s had or something we received as a hand-me-down and couldn’t wait to replace with something else!

Ha! I must be falling behind on my pinning! Please feel free to pin whatever you like anytime, you should be able to do so directly from the post I think. I’ll try to get some of these pinned myself too. Thanks Tricia!

Yes, that would have been a pretty combination as well. But when I saw that beautiful grain on the drawers fronts I just knew I didn’t want to cover it up with paint. I’m a fan of a subtle grain. I think this wood is Pecan, by the way. I should have mentioned that in the post!